5 Ways to Instantly Upgrade Your Oatmeal

Oatmeal is a morning staple for me. In fact, my whole office tends to use a Quaker instant packet & the hot water dispenser at the water cooler to make breakfast every morning. But we’re all kind of weary of oats after doing the same old same old day after day. Enter these five recipes that raise plain ol’ oatmeal (still <3 u Quaker) to ‘haute’-meal status.

Despite how complicated it sounds, this recipe only takes about 15 minutes and literally tastes just like the real deal. Waking up to a bowl of this is like starting the day with, well, pie!! Angela at Oh She Glows made the vegan recipe with canned pumpkin and crunchy toppings like pecans, syrup, almond milk & cinnamon.

This recipe from Lori at Foxes Love Lemons ends the common misconception that oatmeal has to be sweet. By mimicking the process of cooking risotto with rice (stock, butter & white wine), she gives oatmeal a rich, sexy texture accented with meaty mushrooms, salty parmesan & lemony thyme.

Some kitchen gadgets are super cool, but they don’t get used enough. Among them are the immersion blender, the meat grinder and the blow torch. This oatmeal idea from SeriousEats is as impactful as it is easy and puts that “flamethrower” to use. Simply add a layer of brown sugar to the top of a small bowl or ramekin of prepared oatmeal and let that fire rip! Of course, if you don’t have a blow torch, you can quickly replicate the “creme brulee crust” by popping the oatmeal in the broiler for a couple minutes.

Speaking of dessert, and this really does feel like you’re eating something decadent, Lindsay over at Pinch of Yum has concocted an oatmeal recipe that tastes downright sinful. A self-described ‘dessert obsesser,’ Lindsay came up with putting cocoa powder, cinnamon, fluffy egg whites and chocolate chips in oatmeal when she got a hankering for sweets, but had none in her place. Pretty quick on her feet, isn’t she?

One of the predicaments of weekday breakfast is that there’s just not any time to make something (and that takes us to bear claw from the Bread Factory territory, right?) Claudia from The Breakfast Drama Queen has a great solution: Oatmeal that you prepare the night before by simply mixing together the ingredients in a bowl and placing it in the fridge. Her version uses sweet peaches & honey, crunchy walnuts and creamy ricotta. No heating required here as this tastes best chilled!